Whistleblower: Stock Market ‘Fear Gauge’ Is Being Manipulated

During President Trump’s first year in office the Dow broke every significant record imaginable.

Below is a list of the records during President Donald J. Trump’s first year in office.

Point Increases

Trump’s first year in office was the greatest year in stock market history!

The Dow hit a record number of all time high closings since Trump won the 2016 election. There were 99 all time highs in the Dow between late January 2018 and when President Trump won the 2016 election.

Since the 2016 election the Dow went up more that 45% before sliding back to its current 35% increase!

* The Dow increased more in 2017 than any year ever in Dow history! The Dow ended 2016 at 19,763 and ended 2017 at 24,719 for a nearly 5,000 point increase. This is the most ever by more than 40% over the next best year ever (In 2013 the Dow was up 3,472 points).

* In January the Dow set an all time record for the fastest 500 point increasein history (between major milestones) as the Dow surpassed 26,000. The Dow broke the records for the fastest 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, 6000, and 7000 point increases in history. All since President Trump won the election.

All Time Highs

* President Trump is the only President in US history to oversee two stock market rallies of nine days or more where the markets set new highs each and every day.

* President Trump’s stock market rally is historical! No President has seen more all time highs (71) in their first year in office than President Trump. No one has seen more all-time highs in a year ever. The old record was 69 in 1997.

* Nearly one in three days since the election has ended in a new stock market high.

In virtually every category the Dow has set a new all time record under President Trump. Then last week the market suddenly dropped 1,000 points in a day – twice. Today Market Watch noted that the market dropped due to unethical market manipulation!

One of the most popular measures of volatility is being manipulated, charges one individual who submitted a letter anonymously to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The letter makes the claim to regulators that fake quotes for the S&P 500 index SPX, +0.27% are skewing levels of the Cboe Volatility Index VIX, -0.82% which reflects bearish and bullish options bets 30-days in the future on the S&P 500 to gauge implied stock-market volatility (see excerpt from the letter below).

The flaw allows trading firms with sophisticated algorithms to move the VIX up or down by simply posting quotes on S&P options and without needing to physically engage in any trading or deploying any capital. This market manipulation has led to multiple billions in profits effectively taken away from institutional and retail investors and cashed in by unethical electronic option market makers.

The whistleblower’s claims are consistent with those documented by John Griffin, professor of finance at the University of Texas and Ph.D. candidate Amin Shams in May 2017 in research that says the cost of manipulating less-liquid SPX options would be more than paid for by a successful bet on the direction of the VIX. The paper is consistent with the whistleblower’s conclusion—that manipulators are moving prices of the SPX options by spoofing at settlement—entering quotes for trades that are never executed—to “paint the tape” and, therefore, influence the value of expiring VIX derivatives.

This is a bit heavy, but the main thought is that the market was unethically manipulated which impacted millions of Americans in their 401k’s. Let’s hope this gets addressed quick.

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